My New (To Me) 1999 Honda Valkyrie

I have been going mad, slowly, for 10 years without a bike.

It's mind-clearing, and therapeutic.

I rode Yamahas in my youth, had a Kawasaki for a year or two (see below), but I saw a 1999 Honda Valkyrie on Facebook Marketplace.

It was a great deal, and had low mileage for a 19-year-old power cruiser.

So...meet "Chooser."  As in, Chooser Of The Slain.

And here are a couple pics of the Boy and I, ten years apart.  In the first one, I'm on a Kawasaki Vulcan 900, and he's five years old.

And here he is on the back of my Valkyrie, now fifteen years old.  Time flies!

And here's a movie of it idling in my garage.  Forgive the twisting perspective of the camera.  ;)

Best,
JBR

First Viper Suit Prints

The first batch of the Viper Suit is a mixed result.

The cockpits look great, the feet and missile launcher, not so much.

Those less-than-perfect pieces are getting thrown into tonight's batch of parts, which include the heavy gatling and parts of the main hull.

I believe my parts failures are due to lack of support structures.  Unfortunately, more support means more clean-up and post-processing.  It's a fine line, one which I am still learning.

Here's some pics...

Parts come out of the goo...

 

Cleaned up and post processing...

Into the UV oven for curing...

Tonight's batch that will print overnight and while I'm at work...

And some flawed and good-looking parts.  The 6-Pack missile launcher slipped, and has some disruption in its normally-smooth lines...

The feet lost their tread, but the small weapon mount in the middle and the two canopies printed out nicely...

More to come!

Best,
JBR

Armored Cockpit For The 28mm Viper Suit

One of the biggest critiques I have heard over the years about the Variable Payload Raider, or Viper, Suit, I sculpted for Rebel Miniatures has always been the glass cockpit.

Folk thought that a combat unit should have something more rugged.  Well, the Viper was originally envisioned as a civilian/utility model that was pressed into military service, but that's beside the point.

Now that I'm redesigning the Viper Suit for 28mm, I decided to make an armored cockpit, with sensors poking out of the armored overlay.

Here's some pics...

And here are some side-by-side comparison shots of the two cockpits.

I like the effect.  I start printing this weekend.  Stay tuned.

Best,
JBR

28mm Viper Suit Keeps Emerging...

I get pulled in a lot of directions.  It must be Adult ADD.  I joke that I have 14 hobbies, plus a few other interests.  Such is life.

Besides writing, I'm also working on a 28mm digital sculpt of the Rebel Minis Viper Suit.

There are a few past blog posts in the in archives.  The work on the 28mm Scorpion made me dust off that old work.  Now I am getting things up to speed.  This will be compatible with a lot of the weaponry already sculpted and printed out for that mech.  The tri-barrel cannons shown in the render are already printed out, and look great.

Here's some pics.  The cockpit is giving me trouble, and will probably be solid, and have an optional armored overlay or substitute.

BTW, it's Rebel Mike's birthday this weekend.  He's running a 20% Off Sale to celebrate.  Checkout code is Birthday1

Enjoy!

Best,
JBR

28mm Scorpion Parts, Cleaned Up And Out The Door

The 28mm Scorpion Parts are de-nuggeted and sanded, to the best of my meager ability, and sent off to Rebel Mike in Chattanooga, TN.

I tried to fit them together with poster putty, but the larger 28mm parts didn't want to hold together.  So, you'll have to do a little imagining of a larger version of this...

So, here's the parts...

Here's the two-part main hull, along with the crew hatch.  It's a handful.

 Here are the laid-out parts.  No banana, this time, sorry.

 The buzzsaw went together beautifully.  Here's weapons set 1.

 Here's weapons set 2.  The green resin required very little cleanup.

 Here are the main body parts, along with the tail segments.

 I tried getting the thing to stand using poster putty.  Wasn't happening.

 All them weapons, together.

 Tail segments.

Different weapons configurations in conjunction with the tail segments.  The whole tail doesn't need to be assembled to mount close combat or ballistic weapons.

Well, off to Rebel Mike it goes.  We'll see how he wants to get them into your hands.  Stay tuned.

Best,
JBR